Determining the location of an object or a person within or proximate to a structure is a feature that many industries, companies and individuals desire. Within various industries, determining the location of an object in a timely and accurate manner may save money and time, but may also minimize the risk of injury or a security breach. For example, in today's hospitals and medical facilities locating systems are used to determine the approximate location of infants and the elderly. When a baby is born, a security tag is attached to their leg to prevent abduction of the infant during their stay at the hospital. When an abductor attempts to remove the infant from the hospital, proximity sensors may signal an alarm to sound. Similar systems are used in nursing homes to prevent residents with mental handicaps from exiting the building without authorization. Many industries do not have locating systems in use, due to their expense and inconvenience in using them. For example, malls and shopping centers commonly only provide stationary maps with an indication of where the map is located relative to the building.
Beyond detecting a location of an object relative to a structure with a proximity sensor, in some industries it is beneficial to detect specific movements of objects. Certain types of movements may be indicative of a physical action occurring. For example, when an object is moving at greater than one g-force, it may be indicative of the object falling to the ground from a gravitational force, an object being thrown, or similar action. Certain objects, such as human beings may experience harmful effects from either movement at greater than one g-force, or more likely, stopping from movements at greater than one g-force. A common scenario of when this may occur is with human beings that fall and subsequently suffer injuries. Not only may they be hurt from the fall, but some human beings may be unable to get back to their feet leaving them stuck on the floor for a long period of time, which only compounds the ill effects of the initial fall.
Some devices and products are available to register when a human being falls, but these devices are complicated and limited in their abilities. They may produce many false positive results, where a human being falling is detected, where in fact the human being only moved his or her hand or body. Additionally, these devices and products are unable to pinpoint a location of the fallen individual, thus making it challenging for others to come to their aid. With non-human objects, there are few, if any, devices capable of detecting movement of an object. In fact, most movement of an object can only be detected when it is within proximity to a sensor, or when it is calculated to have moved between two points. The latter scenario may be used in warehouse facilities, which may determine the movement of an object based on an initial scan using RFID technology or a barcode, and a subsequent scan at a different location. However, these types of systems are highly impractical for many industries, due to the cost and size of the equipment needed.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.